The debate regarding human foreign language translation versus machine-based foreign language translation during foreign language electronic discovery is one that may never be decided. However, one issue that is rarely thrown into the mix is how these two approaches handle translation of mixed language documents, i.e. documents written in more than one foreign language.

Although the majority of foreign language translation involves translating a document from a foreign language into the language of use, there are cases when a document may contain more than one foreign language that needs to be translated.

The problem with machine foreign language translation is that computers are often programmed to translate from Language A to Language B, meaning they are unable to recognize – or translate – a multilingual, or a mixed language document. Granted, the program can be reset for each foreign language, but this involves scanning the document and recognizing the language changes – which takes time. A more efficient approach to the multiple language documents is to use several human translators. This way you are assured to have all of the document’s foreign language text translated accurately and efficiently in a manner, whose accuracy and expertise can be easily proved in court.

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Published by All Language Alliance, Inc., Legal Language Translation Services Company with headquarters in Denver, Colorado, providing confidential nationwide document translation and legal interpreting services for attorneys, law firms, and corporate legal departments in more than 100 foreign languages.